Technology Transfer of Intelligent Transport Systems: China and the Netherlands

China is a developing country with a great need for an expansion of its transport system. Its policy aim is, among others, stimulating the role of the car in its transport system. That creates problems similar to those found in nearly all other countries in the world: congestion and inefficiency of the road transport system, especially in and around cities. To deal with those problems and to speed up the process of solving them, the Chinese cities cooperate with experts from other countries. Intelligent transport systems (ITS) are seen as a key to solving urban congestion problems. A cooperation agreement has been signed between the Chinese government, certain Chinese cities, and the Netherlands Ministry of Transport that aims to exchange experts, execute shared research and development, and provide training. The shared research shows that many of the traffic problems in Chinese cities differ very little from problems found in European cities: many of the problems concern particularly the interfaces between high-capacity urban freeways and the urban road network. The technology transfer was executed partly by providing training to Chinese experts. The training program is based on two principles: training for impact and training the trainers. The impact concerns participants applying what was learned from training to their daily practice, and their improved ability to work on solving traffic problems. Course participants are stimulated to become trainers themselves. The first results of the Chinese–Netherlands ITS training center are very promising.